A native’s guide to San Francisco Bay Area real estate professionals & cities

Day: May 25, 2007

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Mark Heschmeyer, of the Co Star Group, sheds more light on Edward Okun’s troubles in one of the best and most succinct articles written to date. While reading Heschmeyer’s investigation, I inadvertently stumbled on another find: CoStarGroup.com.

Co Star allows commercial Real Estate industry professionals “online databases of real estate information” which helps them to “gain a complete picture of opportunities available across a variety of markets.” In addition industry professionals can access “the industry’s most comprehensive digital library” as well as post one of their own listings.

Other real estate information services provided by Co Star:

“The industry’s most comprehensive commercial real estate database with more than 2 million properties representing more than 38 billion square feet of inventory and over 760,000 for-sale and for-lease property listings in the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

The largest independent network of researchers and analysts, employing over 1,000 highly trained professionals who canvass the country, interview owners and brokers, inspect properties and examine public records to build accurate, up-to-the-minute information you need.

The most extensive commercial real estate photo library, over 3 million high-resolution photographs of buildings, lobbies and aerial views.

I have seen some bad things in a full lifetime. I witnessed in full technicolor a stabbing, I have been robbed at gun point, watched a number of horrific accidents, participated in an intervention, performed the heimlich maneuver to save a friend’s life, and I have worked in some challenging environments. . .

But I don’t think I have ever seen something as horrific as the film clip of this Russian child smoking. The idea of an innocent baby being force fed a cigarette, in what appears to be an impoverished setting, really got to me !

So please let me share with you the good news. We don’t have to allow this sort of tragedy to go unanswered in our lifetime. The following is a list of watchdog agencies and charities-please consider contributing as you see fit:

Brian Crane, Intero Real Estate services and Chairman SILVAR’s Los Gatos meeting, brings in a variety of guests with important information. The May 23 meeting followed in the same vein with David Hamerslough as the keynote speaker.

According to the RHRC website: “RHRC specializes in commercial and residential real property and business litigation and in negotiating complex real estate transactions. Consequently David Hamerslough’s message was clear: document all forms of communication in order to insulate yourself and your business from the actions of your service providers and your own good intentions.” Forms of communication may include most any type of communication during the real estate transaction. It is always best to save everything.

In addition a nice pictorial of the 2007 Silvar Affiliates “Finance Committee” Los Gatos-Saratoga District was included in our morning packets. The following is the committee:

The most unusual property listing today ? Craig Gorman’s listing at 14225 Lora Dr. #38. This is a 2bd-2bath condo that was completely remodeled in 2002. The price is $465,000 and that makes it a bargain.

Six months ago as I prepared to subject myself to another ( in a long line of the bizarre) internet date, courtesy of Yahooooooooooooo, I began to reminisce about the old days. You know the “back in the day” memories a long playing and never ending reminder of what was and will never be ? It was the “Old School” hour, circa 1970’s, brought on by the fact that my ensuing date was with a woman 17 years south of my age. This girl, who claimed to have posed for Playboy, was so far in the rear view mirror of life, I began to wonder if I should “card” her just to be safe. . . I mean for god sake she was in her late 20s and I was tippin the scales at a robust 40 something!

Then it hit me: what the “*$#@” was I going to talk about with her ? This thought triggered my memories. . . with the soundtrack of my life provided by Tower of Power slammin in the background.

*Gratuitous Disclaimer: Mom if you are reading this-now is the time to cover your eyes! If you are not at least 40yrs old don’t bother to read this–you would never understand because you never lived it!

“Back in the Day” guys had girl length hair but no piercings. Tatooes and goatees were signs of a true outlaw and to be worn only by your friendly neighborhood Hell’s Angel, sailor on shore leave, or anyone incarcerated.

Girls did not have tatooes unless they wished to be considered from another planet, they had “wings”, wore butterfingers and candies, and girls never considered professional boxing a career move.

Men’s fashions were in a word tight and I don’t mean cool. Tight pants suction cupped onto your gluteus, airplane strength materials spray painted onto your torso with multi color outdoor landscape scenes unbuttoned down to your zipper, and platform shoes that made even Chili Eye Charlie a tall man. Yup you were truckin down the road lickin in life. . . and what a different life it was back in the day.

No internet, no answering machines or voicemail, no microwave ovens, no cell phones, no vcr or dvd players, no cable tv, no home video games, no remote controls (I was my father’s human remote placed strategically next to the tube to turn the channel when commanded), and no cordless phones were just a few of the technological differences.

Then there was the subject of sex and drugs (bye bye mom). There was NO AIDS epidemic. I repeat there was NO disease which could take your life and the life of your beloved friends. The worse case scenario was something painful, something unpleasant, and a gift that kept on giving without taking your life. . . What am I trying to say here? Yup people were doin it and doin it as often as possible “back in the day. . .”

And that drug thing. . . well on any given day you could be riding down 101 South heading into the city glance to the right of you and a VW bug would be engulfed in what looked like a car fire. No sight of passengers, just a white smoke filled cabin that would have made Spicoli proud! Turn to view the other lane and you might catch a glimpse of a group of people sardine’d into a muscle car passing a bottle of J.D. and a doobie in rotation at 70 mph. MADD were not yet in existence and neither were intelligent choices but that was what it was like “back in the day.”

That date 6 months ago went as I knew it would. . . it limped through dinner like a dog lost in the desert on it’s last leg, wobbled afterward like your oh so embarrassing drunk uncle, and it finally died a whimpering death after a grand total of 1 hour and 12 minutes of pure torture. Thank God!

Today I have a beautiful and age appropriate (for me) girlfriend Susan rescuing me from that torturous existence. I love today’s internet and all technological breakthroughs. My clothes are looser, my hair thinner, my muscles bigger, and my attitude very grateful. Spirituality in place of materialism is a wonderful place to be. . .